“Come. I’ll order some food. I have a feeling we are going to be here for a while,” Vlad said. He motioned for them to sit at the table with Mathias.
In a way, Mathias hoped it would take a while. If they were going to do something different than what he knew how to do, then he wanted to know exactly how they were going to do it. It wasn’t like Mathias knew any police procedural techniques for this shit. Magic had to be involved here, but he didn’t want them to choose something he didn’t expect. He didn’t want any surprises. Surprises could be bad things.
As Azazel stepped forward, there was something about the man that Mathias just couldn’t put his finger on. Almost like he didn’t quite belong. Whatever it was, Mathias was both unnerved and intrigued.
Vlad came over and sat down on Mathias’ right. Stuart sat across from him and Azazel sat on his left. Vlad made no more mention of food. Mathias was almost glad. The pain in his head made him nauseous. Besides, they had more important things to discuss than food.
With Azazel sitting this close to him, Mathias noticed that he was taller, even sitting in the chair. Azazel was thicker though. It was still going to take some time to get used to being full grown. And, who knew, maybe he wasn’t done growing yet.
Stuart cleared his throat. Mathias looked over at him.
“Azazel has some information that might be of use to us,” Stuart said.
Well, that’s why they were here wasn’t it? But, he said nothing. It was better to get on with it. Mathias turned his attention to Azazel.
“Like I told Stuart, I don’t know if it will be what you’re looking for, but I’ve had to use it a few times over the years,” Azazel said.
“Use what?” Mathias asked. This was the first thing that sounded like it had some potential.
“It’s a little spell that I came up with a while ago. All I need is something that belonged to Nosferatu. Now, the bad part is how the spell works.” Azazel sounded hollow, almost, when he said the last bit. Mathias wasn’t sure how to take that, but it didn’t leave him feeling good.
There was a beat of silence. Mathias glanced around, everyone had stopped moving. No one even blinked their eyes. It was almost as if the dread of the spell needed its own entrance.
“And what does it do?” Vlad finally asked.
“It tracks the prisoner through pain,” Azazel replied.
There it was again. There was more to Azazel than just being the dungeon master. Who else would think of a spell like that? Mathias was sure of it. He could feel it in his gut.
“Shit.” Stuart replied and slumped down in his chair.
Mathias leaned toward Azazel. “Explain it fully.”
Azazel looked at Mathias for a minute. His eyes were strange. Amber almost with a metallic sheen to them. They were not usual vampire eyes.
“The spell sends out a … pulse of pain that attacks the central nervous system of its target,” he said. “It is a repeating pulse that make a connection, almost like Magical GPS.”
Weird, but all right. He could sort of understand how that might work. “And the pulsing does not stop?” Mathias asked.
“Oh it will stop… when the target is dead or when I use the reversal spell. Or well, when the party is found.”
Mathias scratched his wing against the chair for a moment. It was a lot to think about. Did he want Nossy hurt? No. But, this was the best they’d come up with. The only other option was for Mathias to continue dissolving his brain. This, still, was faster because Azazel already knew how to do it. Like he’d said before, it wasn’t pretty.
“Does the focal object have to be something that Nossy owns now?” Mathias asked.
“What do you mean?” Azazel was staring at him.
“I mean, does it have to be something he owned before he was kidnapped or could it be something that meant a lot to Nossy when he gave it to me?” Mathias had a very specific thing in mind. Something that meant a hell of a lot to both of them.
Azazel blinked. “Interesting idea, but it must be something that actually belongs to Nosferatu.”
Mathias twitched. It figured. He might as well stop trying to put his own stamp on all this shit and just let them do what needed to be done. “Any chance you know how to get into Nossy’s rooms?” Mathias asked Stuart.
Stuart laughed. “You’re in luck, tiny bat.”
Azazel looked from Mathias and back to Stuart again. “Tiny bat?”
Mathias wanted to crawl into the table and disappear. Leave it to Stuart to bring up one of his most embarrassing failures. No way was he going to explain it to anyone. He buried his head in his hands. “Long story.”
Azazel snorted.
“So, off to Nossy’s rooms?” Stuart asked.
“Lead on.” Vlad waved his arm and the door to the chambers opened by itself.
* * * * *
Mathias didn’t wait. He jumped out of the chair and left the room before Vlad had a chance to tell him not to. If he was going to help find Nossy, then he needed to know how all of this was going to work. Mostly, he figured, because Nossy would ask him about it. Vlad and the others could worry about the ramifications for a change.
He felt responsible. If he’d been thinking of more important shit, maybe he could have kept Nossy from getting kidnapped. Or, at least tried to stop them. Something. Instead, he’d been wrapped up in his own selfish world. He needed to grow the fuck up. That’s exactly what he needed to do. Enough with the whining about his past and how he almost died because of Lilith. He needed to grow a set.
Who knew what condition Nossy was in? And if he was in a lot of pain already, what would the spell do to him? It sucked. But, he knew Nossy would likely do anything to get out of the situation he was in. He just hoped that the vampire would understand once they found him.
Mathias started walking down the hall in the direction of Nossy’s rooms.
“Not so fast,” Vlad said.
Mathias felt himself snatched backward by the collar of his t-shirt. Mathias jerked the fabric out of Vlad’s hand and turned around. “What?”
“We just got you out of the infirmary. I hardly think you need to be rushing around.”
Mathias rolled his eyes. So, he felt like shit? He’d definitely been in worse health before, if his starvation on the street was any indication that is. “It was about two hours ago.”
Stuart came up from behind Vlad and snorted. “What is it about this jaunt that makes you think you have to go?”
Mathias steeled himself. It really wasn’t any of the bastard’s business. “I owe it to Nossy.”
“Nossy’d be right here with us telling you to go back to bed,” Stuart said.
“I wasn’t in bed,” Mathias replied. But, he could see now that whatever he said wasn’t going to make any difference.
“Yeah, you look like hell,” Azazel said. “Better rest now. I promise I won’t do the spell until you’re awake.”
That was not going to be how it was going to happen. If they were going to make him sit there while they went off to find something to work the spell with, then they would just have to wait to do anything so he could see it all. “No, you’ll do the spell when you get what you need. Wake me up.” Mathias stared him, making sure the point came across.
Azazel nodded after a minute. “Fair enough.”
“Good.”
* * * * *
Nossy blew at the material in front of his face. It didn’t move all that much anymore. Even that gesture was taxing. He felt so awful, like his stomach was trying to eat itself. He tried to adjust his position again, but it was painful.
Lying on his side was the best he could get. If he lay on his back, he hurt his broken wings and smashed his hands where they were tied behind him. If he lay on his stomach, his face was forced into the floor. At least, on his side, only one arm was crushed under the weight of his body. And, no matter what position he was in, his tender bones dug into the floor. So, he blew at the fabric again.
If he could just heal
, use his powers to get out of there, but his kidnappers had been smart. Without food, he was crippled, and while he’d been unconscious, and from the shape of his body and the pain he felt, they had made sure that his body no longer healed before they brought him to this place. They’d made escape impossible.
Suddenly, he got an idea. It wasn’t the best idea in the world, but maybe, he could help things a little by getting this damn sack off his head. Plus, it would give him a little more movement. He sucked in as much air as he could, pulling the sack close to his mouth. Then, he grabbed at the fabric with his fangs.
The rough texture of the bag had a strange tang to it and it felt fuzzy on his tongue. He used his tongue to press the bag further onto his teeth. Thank Father they caught. He exhaled while clenching the fabric. He pulled his head down to his chest then spit out the fabric. He felt the hood move a little.
He took several deep breaths. His heart was hammering in his chest. Something to give him hope. This was the most he’d accomplished in all the days he’d been there.
Then, he raised his head up again … and felt the bag move back.
“Fuck!” He felt like slamming his hands into the floor, but he stopped himself. He was too weak to do it. If he tried, he’d probably shatter his hands, and that would be one more thing that needed to heal when he got rescued. If he got rescued.
If he could escape, he would, but he was stuck. Normally, he wouldn’t use Mathias’ language, but in this moment, it was fitting. In fact, if it would help him to get out of there, he would use the sailor’s speech more than any being had heard before. Too bad he knew that none of it would help him one iota.
He forced himself to calm down. Getting himself worked up wasn’t helping anything. More than likely, he was using even more energy than he needed to.
It was time to try again. He arched his head back and repeated the process, when he got his fangs sunk into the fabric he pulled his head down to his chest again. Then, he rested his head on the floor and pressed it so that he could control how much the fabric moved when he readjusted his head.
This time, he gained more traction. He kept repeating the process, over and over. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he pulled the last of the fabric off the top of his head. He shook it and managed to dislodge the fabric from his neck. The bad part was, he still couldn’t see a damn thing.
Wherever he was, they made sure no light entered the room. Even with his vampiric night vision, he could not detect any light. He was either very underground or they were very clever. And maybe, it was a little bit of both.
Nossy pushed his knees to his chest and rolled himself around until he was sitting upright. At least now he could breathe a little more freely, not that he needed to breathe, but it was one thing he could latch onto for comfort. His wings felt like crushed pop cans.
* * * * *
Vlad led the posse up to Nosferatu’s chambers. Mathias was going to be the death of him. He just didn’t understand his lack of regard for himself. In a way, it was sweet that he cared so much for his friend that he was willing to risk his own life, but that had implications the boy didn’t understand. It was going to take some doing to get the boy to cooperate. And, how he was going to manage it, he had no idea.
“So, what do you think we should use for the spell?” Stuart asked.
“Anything small. Hopefully, something Nosferatu will not miss,” Azazel said, following the other vampire to the rooms.
“Why?” Vlad asked.
“Because whatever we choose will be destroyed during the course of the spell.”
Vlad asked no more questions. He just hoped that whatever they chose, Nossy could stand to miss. If they inadvertently chose something that meant a lot to the old bat, well, that was a risk they were going to have to take.
Finally, they reached Nossy’s door. It was chilly this high up in the castle. The windows would need to be repaired come spring. And, eventually, when he got around to it, he would arrange to have heating installed up in this section.
Granted, they didn’t need heat to survive, but it was much more comfortable during the winter this far North. With all of the movement and the thick walls, freezing to death wasn’t very plausible in their condition, so since that wasn’t the main concern, it hadn’t been at the top of anyone’s list.
Vlad tried the usual combination to open the door, but nothing happened. He stepped back. He knew Nossy hadn’t changed a thing. Nossy was a creature of habit. “Something’s wrong.”
Azazel stepped forward, leaned into the door, sniffed, and sighed. “They’ve cursed his room. Nothing here will be viable.”
Vlad did not ask how Azazel knew by a mere smell. At this point, there were just some things he didn’t want to know.
“Now what?” Stuart asked.
Azazel looked at them both. “We ask Mathias how he feels about a little pain.”
Vlad felt his heart slam into his gut.
* * * * *
Mathias knew he was being stubborn, but he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t like being weak, and while he knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own, he still didn’t have to like it. He’d made himself stay awake.
Granted, his body wanted the sleep, practically begged him for it, but he didn’t give in. Nossy was more important than a little bit of shut-eye. Besides, if he wanted to risk his life, that was his choice, wasn’t it?
Apparently not. Not according to Vlad anyway. His ass was seated at the table while the rest of them were actually trying to help Nossy. At the moment, he was doing the amazing task known as, Staring Out the Window and Watching It Snow. Real help there. Well, unless someone asked him how the weather was, then he’d have something he could answer with.
It was December now, and it was brutal this far North. Even though he knew he was pretty hard to kill, he wouldn’t be able to last forever in weather this cold. Everything froze. He couldn’t imagine having a car up here. No wonder they used horses so much. If they kept moving, it was hard for their blood to freeze.
The crystalline landscape left him feeling cold and hard. He never understood why so many people were worried about the Zombie Apocalypse. Just move to Antarctica. Problem solved. There was no way a zombie couldn’t freeze. They had no blood to flow through their bodies to create warmth. Zombie-cicles.
Too bad this stuff with Nossy wasn’t as easy.
Suddenly, the door of the chamber opened and Vlad came through, looking somber.
This didn’t bode well. It seemed like every step they made toward solving this mess, something would happen to bring them right back to where they started. “What’s wrong?” Mathias asked.
Vlad didn’t answer. He stepped into the room and moved aside, allowing Stuart and Azazel to enter. Then, they all stood in front of the table.
It was weird. None of them were acting right. They looked like a depressed version of the latest superhero triumvirate. “Will someone please tell me what is going on?
“We have a problem,” Stuart said.
“Okay,” Mathias replied. He looked at each of them. Their faces did not betray anything but utter dejection.
Finally, Azazel stepped forward. “Nosferatu’s dwelling has been compromised,” he said. “His rooms have been cursed rending everything unusable.” He sat down beside Mathias.
“Shit,” Mathias said. It was a small comfort to know that his blinking skills weren’t so shitty after all. “How bad?”
Azazel looked at him; his face was a mask of stone. “Very bad. There is a blocking spell on that door that even I would not have used. We don’t have time to go into details, but even if I broke the spell, I could not be certain that any object in that room would lead us to Nosferatu. It may lead us into the pit of hell for all I know.”
Mathias caught a strange twinkle in his eye, but said nothing about it. “What do we do now?” The whole plan had been based on that one thing. Now it was all fubar.
“We cannot ask this of him,” Vlad said.
Azazel turned and looked at him, almost sadly. His eyes seemed to droop a little. “How far are you willing to go to save Nosferatu?”
Mathias leaned back in his chair. That was the question they had all been afraid of? He almost asked Azazel if he really had to ask. “I almost fried my brain trying to help.”
Azazel leaned over and stared into Mathias’ eyes. “But, would you have done it if you’d known what was going to happen?”
Mathias paused. They were all looking at him like he was going to break into a million pieces. When they all stayed frozen like that, Mathias rubbed his head with his hands. “If that was the only option, yeah,” he looked at each one individually so he could emphasize the point. They seemed to understand him more when he did that.
“We are back to the item you said once belonged to Nosferatu,” Azazel said. “I can do the spell on it, I think, but it will require you to feel everything that Nosferatu is going to feel.”
Mathias closed his eyes. Why couldn’t they have just listened to him in the first place? He knew this meant more to Nossy than anything he had in his apartment. And what they were asking him to do? Well, it couldn’t be any worse than what Lilith did to him all those years ago, could it? He survived her torture. Enough with the whining. It was time for him to man up.
“Do it,” he said. He snatched a chain from under his shirt and yanked off the necklace. It was time for Nossy to use it again. He’d had it long enough.
“Whose fang is that?” Azazel asked.
The memories of the past where he’d first presented Nossy with it rained down from his mind. It was the very first thing he’d done as a show of friendship. Nossy and he had met at the Vampiric Games back when Mathias ruled the Myrddin court.
Nossy, being the son of Lilith, was the prince of Lilitu. So, their becoming friends was an oddity. Something like the leader of Russia suddenly becoming friends with one of the children of the current United States president. The fang was a show of solidarity and of trust. Then, last year after he’d remembered the past and had to deal with Lilith’s insanity, Nossy had given it back as a good luck charm right before he met Lilith in a fight to the death. It was time for Nossy to use it again.
The Devil's Liege (The Mathias Saga Book 2) Page 7